The clear aspiration towards equity across
the State is to be highly commended.Of
particular importance to the music education community is the clear commitment
to The Arts and particularly Music, which is stated with such
intention.This is greatly
welcomed.While we do not yet know the
full implications, a reading of the document provides foundation for great hope
that support for music and The Arts will be extended.

Highlights
for music taken from The Education State Launch document:

The aspiration “Over the next 10 years, more Victorian students will
reach the highest levels of achievement in the arts.”

The “$21.6
million to make sure our teachers and schools are supported to implement the new curriculum.” Including Music
as a named targeted subject.

The professional learning program that “will develop best practice specialist curriculum programs
in areas including STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics),
digital coding, early years literacy, critical thinking, music and financial
literacy.”

That the professional
learning program in each named targeted subject, including Music, will be led by an
expert teacher

The implementation of
Gonski funding.

Regional leadership and
support structures as well as Principal development programs

The $18 million Insight
Assessment Platform, The “LOOKOUT” initiative and the “NAVIGATOR” initiative

The 8 new Technical
secondary colleges – where we would hope a Music departmentis designed from inception.

Community/School
partnerships programs – where we believe local Musicians would be keen
to get involved.

Clearly
the commitment to developing excellence in education comes through the
document.Please take the time to read
‘The Education State – Launch’ paper, and become familiar with the vision and
aspirations.

As
we move towards 2016, we see ways towards furthering
music education provisions against the recommendations from the Victorian
Inquiry into the Extent, Benefits and Potential of Music Education.As such, we continue to engage in all avenues
available to make a case for continued improvement, including writing to the
Education Minister, Mr. Merlino, with a request for a meeting.

The sMAG
Teacher Training Working Party submitted a substantial paper to the PSD Review
with a focus on Music Education.A substantive quote from our paper:

“Music seems to provide an outlet
for expression and communication for children
and young people with complex special needs with others in an otherwise
strange and confusing universe. Indeed, some may possess extraordinary musical
gifts and talents despite sometimes severe, profound and multiple limitations
in other domains. Other research, expert input, and
comprehensive analysis that informs the efficacy of music in special and inclusive education
includesDoidge, 2010; Levitin
and Bellugi, 1998; Levitin, 2008; Miller, 1989; Ockelford, 2007; Ockelford,
2008; Ockelford, 2012; Sacks, 2007.

The
position paper respectfully implores members of the PSD Review to carefully
ponder the evidence base to inform potential innovative solutions to the very complex and profound issues as recommendations are
conceptualised.The sMAG (Vic) committee would propose that
every child with a special need would benefit from inclusion of a Music
curriculum delivered by an expertly trained music specialist, with training in
the area of special needs students.”

Our six
final recommendations were based on the above premise, and we hope that the PSD
committee will undertake to include music education to meet the developmental
needs of these students, delivered by teachers substantially trained in both
special needs and music.

Further,
our submission recommended that a professional research occur into the
outstanding piano teaching work of Daphne Proietto.

We thank
Dr. Helen Farrell for her leadership in making this submission, drawing on her
specialized expertise in the area of Students with Disabilities and Music
Education.THANK YOU, HELEN!

The review is still open, and you are invited
to participate: Online
survey

Principals,
teachers, parents, students and all other members of the public are also
invited to participate in an online survey about key themes and
preferences. To participate in the survey, see:PSD Review online survey

The consultation
paper outlines proposals as discussion starters to engage the public and
professionals in the conversation.It
identifies the need to focus on early childhood as the foundation of lifelong
well being and learning.

In the first five years
of children's lives, commitment to their health, education and well-being has
the most profound effects. “Early childhood is the best time to transform a person’s
life. This is the time when a child’s potential – their imagination, curiosity
and creative spark – is first nurtured. Effort and investment well spent during
our children’s early years repay themselves many times over – in better lives
and in fairer, more prosperous societies.”Jenny
Mikakos MP Minister for Families and Children

The government invites
responses from professionals, parents, caregivers, academics, experts and the
broader Victorian community to develop substantial reforms, to be put into
action year by year over the coming decades.

The paper is well worth a read, and a response, as it provides
the probable direction for Early Childhood Education in general for the next
few years.Music Educators are well
aware of the benefits of using music from birth to age 5, and we outlined many
in the sMAG submission.You can log onto
the website, http://educationstate.education.vic.gov.au/early-yearsand engage in the online conversation in the
hope of influencing policy.

BRACKS REVIEW – SCHOOL’S FUNDING REVIEW

The Brack's Review into School
Funding has released Emerging Issues & Ideas report:

The
Instrumental Music Program gets a mention on page 19, and the
Victorian Inquiry into the Extent, Benefits and Potential of Music Education is
listed as a reference. I commend everyone that worked on that paper (amongst
other contributors), as these two mentioned items, albeit small, has assisted
in that our voice and subject receiving a mention. Good! Few
curriculum areas received a special mention, so we are on the right
track.Comment can still be made to the
Brack's review via email:schools.funding.review@edumail.vic.gov.au

The sMAG
Teacher Training Working Party made a concise response with the focus on
pre-service training, accreditation and employer satisfaction with a focus in music education specialization.We believe it is vital that we continue to
engage in any consultation process put forward by AITSL as the quality of
pre-service training in music directly relates to the student outcomes in the
future.

sMAG
is currently moving through a transition and self review process.At our October, meeting we will consider our
structural format in order to best meet the needs of the community.At this point in our journey, Ian Harvey will
continue on the committee but release his role as Co-Chair.Ian’s commitments across the music sector are
far reaching, creating huge demands on his time and expertise.

I
wish to thank Ian publicly for his generous commitment to sMAG, with consistent
and continuous contributions as Co-Chair over the last 18 months to two
years.His political insights, experience
and expertise have contributed within the team, towards the strong position of music
education in the community at this point in time. Ian’s skills in networking,
relationship building and strategic intelligence have had a significant impact
on our progress.

THANK YOU,
IAN!!!

Further, I would like to publicly thank all the members of the sMAG
committee.Each professional has been
giving tirelessly of their time and expertise, contributing to the many and varied
reviews and submissions open to us at this time.IT is a lot of work, and as such, I genuinely
value and appreciate all the time and effort that is put into our collective
work.

sMAG is a
non partisan committee, consisting of volunteers
from all sectors of the music community, and we welcome your input.A survey is being developed to invite
people’s input, however anyone is welcome to email us at any point and make a
contribution: smag.schoolmusicactiongroup@gmail.com.

Mission Statement

sMAG (Vic) works cooperatively with the State and Federal governments, Universities and the music sector to ensure that the recommendations of the NRSME are adopted and implemented throughout the State of Victoria

Purpose

* To promote high quality school music education in all schools in Victoria
* To be a representative voice from all sectors supporting music education in schools
* To promote the value and status of school music education throughout the Victorian education sector and in the wider community
* To comment as appropriate upon matters relating to school music education
* To encourage and assist societies and organisations concerned with school music education and the professional development of teachers
* To promote singing as a foundation for developmental music education programs in all early childhood, primary and secondary settings
* To promote the inclusion of continuous sequential and developmental music study into the VELS
To promote the expansion of pre-service education and ongoing professional development of teachers to meet the needs of the delivery of high quality music teaching

Followers

Blog Space

A community discussion space aimed to inform the current debate in the National Curriculum development for Music. Followers are encouraged to read the linked documents in order to contribute.

“Music has a power of forming the character, and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young.” Aristotle.

sMAG

The School Music Action Group (sMAG) was formed immediately following the Victorian Music Workshop in April 2007. sMAG brings together representatives of the key music education community including teachers and principals as well as representatives from the tertiary music and education sectors music/arts bodies and the music industry.

The purpose of sMAG is to unify the music education sector and its stakeholders.